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5 can't-miss vendors at this weekend's Off the Hook seafood festival

Written by
Erin Kuschner
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If you thought food festival season was over, you're going to need to pull out your stretchy pants one more time. The inaugural Off the Hook seafood festival, held at the Santa Monica Pier on October 17, is bringing out boatloads of sea creatures for gluttonous consumption: lobsters, clams, oysters, mussels, fish, you name it. Along with vendors shelling out their best, uh, shells, there will be educational seafood sessions touching on topics that include the pros and cons of having an oyster farm, seafood sustainability and the history of the Santa Monica Pier. An oyster shucking competition is also scheduled for 5pm.

With so much going on, you'll need to be strategic about which vendors to hit up. Here are the participating restaurants we're most looking forward to:

Herringbone Santa Monica: Herringbone is a relative newcomer to Santa Monica; the first location, in West Hollywood, opened in early 2014. Chef Brian Malarkey focuses on sourcing the freshest fish possible, so we have no doubt this vendor will be one of the festival's highlights—fingers crossed for ahi tuna tacos.

The Lobster: This Santa Monica institution has stood at the mouth of the pier since 1923, and now serves some of the best Dungeness crab enchiladas and pan seared crab cakes around. We already love the restaurant for having one of the most creative corn dogs in LA (made with Maine lobster, clearly), and we're happy to report that they'll be serving these beauties on a stick on Saturday.

Bubba Gump: Because it's fun to say, and because you know you probably give it the stink eye while walking on the pier, but secretly you want to pop in and eat all the shrimp you can muster. They'll be serving shrimp and sausage kabobs at the festival, and we'll be one of the first in line.

FIG: Any excuse to eat FIG's food without having to spend a lot of dough is good enough for us. At Off the Hook, they'll be offering delectable oysters for slurping.  

The Albright: This seafood-centric restaurant is also a pier favorite, and the festival is the perfect place to check it out without waiting in The Albright's long lines. The black tiger shrimp tacos are top notch, and we're hoping they bring a similar version to the fest.

You can still buy tickets for Off the Hook here; the festival runs from 3-7pm this Saturday. Each ticket includes seafood tastings and drinks as well as access to the main stage with live music, demos and more. You'll be up to your ears in seafood heaven, but don't forget to end your tasting with ice cream at Salt & Straw—trust us, it'll make you feel like Ariel with a brand new pair of legs.

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